‘Maid in Malacañang’: A biased review
It has been painful to watch the opposition in the post-election period. I was hoping that they would’ve finally learned their lesson after three consecutive defeats at the polls but it doesn’t look that they have opened their eyes to the truth and change their ways.
I posed a question my Ateneo/UP friend, Raspuchimp; Ateneo and UP students are supposed to be representative of the best and the brightest of the youth, why is it they appear to be dipossessed of critical thinking? Surely they can read history on the internet. There are always two sides to history. Aren’t they intelligent enough to make an objective assessment and come to a logical conclusion?
Raspuchimp’s answer wasn’t simple. “By their very nature, they’re elitists because of their “intelligence. The truth is most of these people are dogmatic. There is a difference.”
“Marxists are attracted to the academe because it allows them to stay firmly within the realm of theory. They never do well in application. In any instance where their actions have consequences that go back to them, they will wither.”
Maid in Malacanang has been the subject of conversation on social media since its teaser came out. The Yellowidiots claim that this is another installment in the series of disinformation that the Marcos’ have been spinning in the run-up to the 2022 election. Their broader claim is their tandem of Robredo-Pangilinan lost because of “networked disinformation.” This is their new euphemism for bobotante.
Prior to this, there was the brouhaha over history as chismis, triggered by one of the actresses in the picture. Historian Ambeth Ocampo, came out strongly in defense of the Yellow narrative. This is natural for him because his uncle was appointed the OIC Governor of Tarlac after Marcos was ousted.
“History may have bias but it is based on fact, not opinion. Real History is about truth, not lies, not fiction.” Ocampo misses the point about how the public perceives “historical facts” as their opinion, i.e., whether they choose to accept it or not.
For example, it’s widely known that before Teodoro Agoncillo came out with his landmark History of the Filipino People, it was Gregorio Zaide who had been lording it over in the field of history with his glossed over narratives. Zaide’s version was very far from the truth.
In Agoncillo’s case, he was objective enough to present the “facts” as they were for the Filipino to judge.
Another example is the real story behind the death of Antonio Luna. It wasn’t until Larry Henares started writing about the origin of the Cojuangco family fortune that it was finally revealed that the famed General had been executed by Aguinaldo’s men.
What Ocampo doesn’t acknowledge as a historian is that the public’s view is their opinion and opinion’s change. What may have been accepted and acceptable in the past isn’t anymore. Just look at how the Catholic Church itself has had to issue apologies for the abuse perpetrated by priests themselves.
Winston Churchill is considered as one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen, a brilliant orator and one who had probably the best command of the English language but as one who came of age during the Victorian era, Churchill was one of the architects of the preservation of the British Empire through whatever means.
In one scene, Imee emerges dolled up like Madonna to spite her terno-iconic mother, confident in the affection of her doting father. In contrast, Bongbong, in military fatigues the whole film, was depicted as a whimpering child of a man desperate for his father’s attention and approval. To add insult to injury, Bongbong appears in an Oedipal scene in bed with his mother, who wails about being driven from the Palace, never to return. Then and there, Bongbong vows that they shall return, with the scene concluding with the camera focusing on one pair of Imelda’s fabled 3,000 shoes, with an inventory tag that reads: “IRM 2022.”
Irene Marcos Araneta, the least political, the most good-looking, and lovable of the three Marcos children, was badly played by Ella Cruz, she who said “history is like tsismis.” Unlike the real Irene, the reel version is a clueless idiot. Cruz was provided with a dramatic scene, where she tries to convince her father to leave the Palace. Alas, her whining and mock tears will not win her a FAMAS Award and that is not tsismis. This pivotal scene has Cesar Montano as Ferdinand Marcos Sr. asking the viewers: “Masama ba akong tao?” History has answered that rhetorical question: He was driven from the Palace, hounded by lawsuits till the day he died in exile in Hawaii. The suppressed Marcos narrative, provided by Imee Marcos, is that the Marcoses were driven from Malacañang by fair weather friends who looked down on them for their provincial and nonelitist origins.
“Maid in Malacañang” is a film—it should not be judged as a doctoral dissertation in history. Our challenge is separating fact from fiction, recognizing history from the director’s artistic license or flights of fancy. Cory Aquino playing mahjong with Carmelite nuns when the fate of the nation hung in a balance is way over the top. Leaving the theater, I felt sorry for President Marcos Jr., who was badly portrayed. What the President and his supporters should ask in the aftermath of this twisted retelling of history is, with an ate or eldest sister like this, who needs enemies?
In his review of the film, Ocampo again falls into the same trap caused by his bias. The depiction of Bongbong is bad and given Imee is the creative consultant to the movie, Ocampo implies that with a sister like Imee, Bongong doesn’t need enemies.
But what if that’s the real purpose of Imee? To reveal to the public the family dynamics at that time when they were facing the wrath of their political enemies and a fraction of the Filipino people? If this is Imee’s reality, who is Ocampo to dispute it?
The truth is historical revisionism was first applied by the Yellowidiots with Ninoy, then Cory, then Noynoy. The only Aquino who stuck to her true personality was Kris. She with her long list of male conquests. She who was brazen enough to admit that Joey Marquez had given her a sexually-transmitted disease.
Ocampo dismisses the fact that filmakers have artistic license and this is used to depict the truth, in the most accurate version allowed, under the circumstances. In this case, Daryl Yap not only had the permission of the Marcos’ but also worked closely with Imee. Any other filmaker who tries to produce a film without the approval of the Marcos’ would be putting out a highly-fictionalized depiction in order to avoid the legal consequences.
But leave it to the Yellowidiots to continue being hypocrites. It’s all the same when it comes to them. This is why they have gone batshit crazy about the scene showing Cory playing mahjjong with the nuns. This is now different from their non-admission of Leni’s relationship with Bolet Banal even if there is proof of it from the campaign period of the 2016 election up to the first half of Robredo’s term as Vice-President.
The word of Cory’s enjoying mahjjong sessions with her kitchen cabinet either at Malacanan or her Arlegui residence was first revealed by Louie Beltran in his column. If only Beltran’s columns were preserved and published, he also had detailed accounts of what happened to the valuables left behind by the Marcos’ when the first of the Corysta’s finally entered the Palace. This is how Beltran came up with the names of each faction in the Cory administration.
Daryl Yap is very creative. I was laughing my ass off with the Len-Len Rose series. I haven’t seen Maid in Malacanang and I don’t have any intention of seeing it. I’m not particularly fond of the actors Yap chose to portray the characters.
Unlike either side of the political divide these days, I’m not a fanatic but a political pragmatist. I don’t think we have progressed as a nation and as a people in the last thirty-six years since the Marcos’ were ousted. I think we have regressed. It is difficult to pull ourselves out of the hole we find ourselves in now because of the present geopolitical realities.
If the opposition had genuine concern for the country and their countrymen, they should’ve been more statesmanlike in their defeat and finally acknowledge the Filipino people’s judgment of the Marcos’. But they continue to ignore this which confirms that they are only in it for themselves. They’re the minority who believe they should rule over the majority for the simple reason that they think it’s their destiny and their duty like royalty.
Ambeth Ocampo should be true to himself and come to terms with the realities of why they haven’t and will not be able to gain back the trust of the Filipino people in the near future.
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